Antti Niemi

Sharks goalie Alex Stalock wants to follow suit after he saw what Martin Jones, Troy Grosenick and Aaron Dell did in their first game action this preseason.

Stalock will start in net for the Sharks on Friday when they host the Arizona Coyotes in their first exhibition game at SAP Center. In two games, San Jose has only allowed one goal, which came in overtime on Monday when the Canucks beat the Sharks 1-0. Grosenick and Dell split time in that game, and Jones played all 65 minutes in Tuesday’s 4-0 win in Vancouver in which the NHL mandated a five minute overtime.

“We haven’t given up a goal yet. Hopefully that carries over into the year, too. That would be easy,” Stalock said. “But special teams have been great, the penalty kill’s been great, and our power play was good in Vancouver. It’s good to see that early on, and we’ll get a look at another division team tonight. They have some young skill in that organization, so it’s be good.”

Should preface this by saying I haven’t spoken with GM Doug Wilson yet, but the Sharks finished the 2015 NHL Draft with nine selections, eight coming today. The first one happened right out of the gate, as the Sharks sent three picks to the Avalanche, 39th this year, a 2nd rounder next year and a sixth rounder in 2017, for No. 31 that was used on D Jeremy Roy. The picks given up for the next two drafts were previously acquired in last year’s Brad Stuart trade.

But perhaps the biggest news was that there was no real big news. The Kevin Bieksa deal died on the vine. The Sharks didn’t swing a deal for a goalie, and presently only have two netminders under contract (Stalock, Grosenick) after they dealt Antti Niemi’s negotiation rights to the Dallas Stars for pick No. 193 this year, which turned into 6-foot-5 goalie John Kupsky of Waukeshaw, Wisconsin.

We’ll have updates later with Wilson’s comments. But in the last few minutes in talks with reporters who are at the draft, Wilson said …

Sharks general manager Doug Wilson made it clear Friday he has no plans to move the No. 9 pick at the NHL Entry Draft next Friday at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. But he’ll also be keeping his ears open.

After a trying season that saw plenty of upheaval, the Sharks are drafting in the top 10 for the first time since 2007 when the selected Logan Couture with the ninth overall pick. Right now, it appears the Sharks will keep that pick and hold onto their key younger players/prospects to continue through the transition process they set into motion last summer.

“Now, when you get to that point, you sit on the draft floor, sometimes things get offered that come out of left field. Sometimes people move up a spot, down a spot. Our history speaks to — we’ve done all of those things,” Wilson said. “You listen in this business, and when opportunities come, that’s how we got Brent Burns (from the Wild).

“The draft was in Minnesota and they didn’t have a first round pick. … We have players that people like, people call and that’s great. We have draft picks that people like, and we have a lot of picks going forward that people like. You want the phones ringing and people calling and offering you things. That’s the position that we’re in.

“So, get on the draft floor and you never know.”

As far as unrestricted free-agents-to-be Antti Niemi and Matt Irwin, Wilson didn’t completely close the book on either player returning to San Jose.

Wilson’s expectation is that the Sharks will be competitive again once the season begins in October. But he was asked if can he get to where he wants to go without parting with something he doesn’t want to part with, such as a high pick or a younger talent.

The Sharks are one of a handful of teams that reportedly have interest in acquiring New York Rangers goalie Cam Talbot, as they look to fill one of their greatest needs with Antti Niemi all but certain to test the market as an unrestricted free agent.

TSN’s Darren Dreger tweeted earlier Thursday that the Rangers have received multiple trade offers, as the Oilers, Flames, Sharks, Sabres, Stars and Panthers have expressed interest. Dreger also noted that Edmonton, Buffalo and San Jose are “pretty eager.”

The New York Post’s Larry Brooks noted in his column on Saturday that the “safest bet going into the June 26-27 draft weekend is the Blueshirts will indeed trade Cam Talbot. Several well-placed sources report there is a ‘significant’ amount of interest in the soon-to-be 28-year-old goaltender.” Steve Zipay of Newsday tweeted that Talbot would command a second round pick, plus another piece.

The Rangers are one of the more cap-strapped teams in the league and right now only have five draft picks for next week — including no-first rounders. The Sharks have eight picks for next week, selecting at No. 9, 39, 106, 130, 142, 160, 190 and 210.

Talbot is set to make $1.45 million this upcoming season, according to numbers on General Fanager, and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2016. In 57 career NHL games, Talbot is 33-15-5 with a 2.00 GAA and a .931 save percentage.

The Sharks are back at Gila River Arena for the last time this season, as they look to continue their recent solid play and keep their already slim chances for a playoff spot alive.

Just a small bit of news. Sharks coach Todd McLellan said he didn’t think Marc-Edouard Vlasic would be available for Monday’s game against the Dallas Stars. Thursday in Edmonton against the Oilers was a greater possibility as the Gold Medal defenseman, who is out with a lower body injury.

No lineup changes for the Sharks as they seek their fifth win in six games.

You’ll remember the last time the Sharks were in Glendale. After San Jose looked listless in the first 20 minutes and fell behind by two goals, Joe Pavelski came into the dressing room and delivered an impassioned and NSFW speech to his teammates to pick it up. The Sharks responded with four goals, including three by Pavelski, to earn what was one of only three wins for the team in February.

Mike Smith started that game for the Coyotes, and will be back in the Arizona net tonight. Antti Niemi in there for the Sharks.

“We were red rotten in the first as a team all over the rink,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said of that Feb. 13 game this afternoon. “In the second and third, we took advantage of a higher commitment level and we just got pucks past (Smith) in the right situation. It wasn’t like we had a ton of scoring opportunities. They actually outchanced us (20-15) and outshot us (36-26) that night.

“With Smitty going in, it changes the dynamic. He’s a big goaltender, but he can play the puck so well. Most people think you’re going to focus on how you’re going to get the puck by him when you get those chances. But we’re talking about just creating o-zone time and keeping pucks away from him. He’s like a third defenseman.”

SAN JOSE — Before the Sharks went out and beat the Nashville Predators 2-0 on Thursday night (and you can read Curtis Pashelka’s account of the important win here ), Sharks general manager held court with about 350 season-ticket holders who showed up for the invitation-only Ice Insights session.

“There’s no surgar-coating. You can ask anything you want here,” Wilson told the crowd. “You don’t have to be respectful — and I mean that. Trust me, the frustration is shared.”

Still, the gathering stayed relatively respectful — though understandably, a little more hostile than in years past. It produced a print edition story available online here that focused on new information that Wilson provided when asked why Joe Thornton lost the ‘C’ on his jersey last August. The response provided far more details than have come out in the past, though the explanation was somewhat consistent with what Larry Robinson said in a Montreal radio interview as far as Thornton’s sense of humor not always being appreciated.

That story also include Wilsons’s response when asked if he accepts any blame for the season to this point.

Beyond that, though, Wilson offered his perspective on a myriad of topics. We’ll try to cover that in a couple of postings here. I’m only part-way through the time-consuming transcribing, so some of this needs to wait till tomorrow.

One thing he made clear: February was a disaster with eight consecutive home losses and a 3-8-2 overall record.

“I would much rather be sitting here without having gone through February. The one game that pissed me off — and it epitomized our team — was the Detroit game. Detroit has a young team that’s transitioning like we are….. We dominate for the first period and then we went 30 minutes with one shot. That to me was kind of like hitting rock bottom.”

And we’re off. Questions and answers are edited for length:

Q: When and why was the decision made to move Brent Burns back to the blue line?

“t’s a very simple decision that was made the day we traded for him. Todd had coached im, we had Larry Robinson, we tried to find a dynamic defenseman — especially wiht Danny Boyle getting a little older, that would be a LeTang, a Subban, a Karlsson type guy.

“Brent Burns has done a very good job offensively. There’s no doubt about it. Defensively, what I love about him is he’s trying to make plays and when he gets in trouble, he’s trying to do too much.

The Sharks will face one of the top teams in the NHL tonight when they host the Nashville Predators in what is their fifth-to-last home game of the season. Then it’s the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday, and the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday as the Sharks begin a seven-game road trip.

Of course, tonight is important. Every game is for the Sharks from now until the end of the season. According to my (useless) calculations, San Jose can afford maybe three or four more regulation time losses if they want to get to 95 points (which appears to be the magic number).

But the daunting task ahead puts into perspective how many games San Jose frittered away this season against non-playoff teams.

Hey, if there had not been two losses to Columbus, Buffalo, Edmonton and Florida (which still has a shot), then maybe there’s a little less need to for this team to pick up two points vs. Pekka Rinne, Shea Weber, Filip Forsberg and company.

The counter is that the Sharks have actually been very good this year against elite teams – 10-6-2 against the likes of the Islanders, Rangers, Anaheim, Tampa Bay, Nashville, St. Louis, Montreal and Pittsburgh.

We’ll see what team shows up tonight. Antti Niemi gets the nod, and it appears the only scratch will be defensemen Matt Irwin (he’s making progress).

The Sharks will be desperately searching for two points Monday night, but it’ll have to come against one of the best defensive teams in the NHL in the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Yes, those Pittsburgh Penguins.

Under first-year coach Mike Johnston, the Penguins are allowing just 2.38 goals per game, third lowest in the NHL. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is having one of the best seasons in his career with a league-best nine shutouts in 51 games. He also carries a fifth-best 2.16 goals against average and an eighth-best .924 save percentage.

Pittsburgh was a sound defensive team last season as well, as it finished with a 10th-best 2.49 goals against average. But the Penguins were also tied for 14th in 5 on 5 goals allowed with 150. This year, they’re fourth in the league with 105 goals given up 5 on 5 in 65 games so far.

“I think it’s been something we’ve been committed to all year, regardless of some of the scores,” the Pens’ Sidney Crosby said. “Our mentality has been to make sure that we take care of things in our own end, make sure that we’re structured. It doesn’t always work out perfectly. You’re going to give up goals, but we have been committed to it and it’s a pretty big reason why we’ve had success.”

The Penguins are also coming off a 2-0 shutout win over Anaheim on Friday and a 1-0 overtime win over Los Angeles on Saturday.

“Nine shutouts, that speaks volumes of his ability and how well he’s playing this season,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said Monday morning. “That’s Fleury, but that’s also a team mentality. When I talked to the group this morning, when you think Pittsburgh, you think dynamic, offensive players, one on one skill, power play, and they are that. But they haven’t given up very much.

“Because we play in a different conference and we haven’t seen them yet this year, our group had to be reminded of that.”

The Sharks are obviously not going to win many games the rest of the regular season if they keep giving the opposing team five power play opportunities.

The Sharks had to kill five penalties in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, marking the third time in five games they have had to kill off five minors. San Jose got away with it March 3 when they killed four of the Canucks’ five power play chances in a 6-2 win, but there was no margin for error Saturday night in San Jose.

With the game tied 2-2 and the Canucks on a 4 on 3, Daniel Sedin got control of the loose puck in the faceoff circle in the Sharks’ end and passed to Radim Vrbata, who outwaited Antti Niemi before he fired it top shelf to give the Canucks the lead.

Tomas Hertl’s high-sticking penalty in the first period, and Mirco Mueller’s roughing penalty in the second period. It’s on thing to kill those penalties, but it also kills momentum and saps the energy of some of the top forwards and defensemen.

“Can’t do it this time of year,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said Sunday. “When you look at our power play opportunities against the teams that we’ve played the last number of games, they’re miniscule. They’re very few. We go to the penalty box five times in a game. Emotional penalties.

“I think of Tomas Hertl’s penalty. Everybody in the rink is watching you. You can’t take that penalty. Mirco’s is reactionary. The others …”